Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Mahindra and Ashok Leyland shares are likely to remain in focus on Friday as these companies will be announcing their monthly volume sales for June 2016, even as hopes brightened of the Supreme Court (SC) lifting the ban on sale of diesel cars in Delhi.
The SC had banned registration and sale of such diesel cars in Delhi from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2016, and extended it in May.
There is an expectation now that the ban may be lifted by the apex court in lieu of the diesel car makers agreeing to pay a "green" cess.
"We are inclined to allow registration. We are open to the registration subject to some kind of one-time cess," a SC bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur, Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi said, while hearing a petition filed by Mahindra, Mercedez and Toyota, as reported by the Business Standard.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 4.
Domestic car sales rose 1.53 percent to 1.62 lakh units in June last year, marking the slowest rate of growth in the preceding five months, according to industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) data. Car makers had sold 1.60 lakh units in June 2014.
The tepid growth was attributed to annual maintenance at some of the car manufacturing plants.
"The low growth of passenger cars was due to annual maintenance closure of companies like Maruti and Toyota falling together during the last month," PTI had quoted Vishnu Mathur, the then DG of Siam, as saying in New Delhi on July 9, 2015.
However, makers of SUVs did not face a ban on diesel cars with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and above in Delhi, the biggest car market in India, as is the case this year.
On Thursday, the Maruti Suzuki share price closed at Rs. 4,185.15, up 1.35 percent on the BSE, while Tata Motors stock was up 2.72 percent at Rs. 459.25. Mahindra ended almost flat at Rs. 1,428.95 and Eicher Motors also ended with negligible gains at Rs. 19,223.70.
While Eicher Motors makes heavy vehicles and Royal Enfield motorcycles, Ashok Leyland is completely into manufacturing heavy and medium vehicles. Shares of Ashok Leyland declined 0.35 percent to close at Rs. 98.60. The company sold 10,461 units in June last year.
